I am now wearing a soft cast since breaking my fibia while riding the Linear, in a slow turn going down hill, and putting my foot down to hold the bike up.
Started back on my Linear recumbent today and rode about three miles. The bike becomes hard to handle at low speed, 6 MPH, and wants to fall over in a tight turn. Had to put my leg down quickly to save a fall,while going down hill,6 MPH, almost a repeat the way I broke my leg the last time. Could it be the USS,and turning in the middle of a down hill, or the Linear brand bike. More practice on level ground? Nothing is level here, so turning in the middle of a hill is hard to avoid. Any opinions? I am new to recumbents.
I have much experience on road bikes. Is the Linear recumbent a good bike?

My first recumbent was a Cannondale which I rode for probably a few hundred miles. It quickly became clear that, if I wanted a smooth ride at low speed, I had to use a light touch and learn not to over steer. When I acquired a Linear, which I had briefly intending to resell, I found the handling quite pleasant even at fairly low speeds--less twitchy than the Cannondale. But, because the USS was new to me, the riding that I did was in a large parking lot. If I had intended to keep and ride it, I would have spent another hour or two practicing in the same circumstance. The only other thing that I can think of is to advise that, if the seat is reclined, make the sure seat back is pretty vertical during your learning period. Also, I was never a foot-down-while-turning kind of rider (my clever friends did that). It would seem to be counterproductive for most recumbent riding circumstances--position relative to the ground and all. But then I've followed your earlier post and you would now be an authority on this principle.

I have had USS for some time now, but I have also removed all concerns about road surface, unclipping, putting my feet down, etc.--I ride a trike. (However, if I were to look at two wheels, the new Longbike looks VERY interesting, and the riding position is the same as the Linear.)

Practice a lot first, then enjoy what seems to me to be a fine machine. Speedy recovery and all.

Chip

PS I have used clip-in pedals on all my recumbent riding. While a bit un-nerving in some circumstances, it does make you perform with your hands via handling rather than simply put your foot down. The game one learns to play is how long you can keep your feet on the pedals (one mustn't forget to practice speedy UNclipping). (While on a recumbent one can't do the same, it reminds me of those road bike guys at the stoplights still clipped in while balancing--but then they're probably the same cleverer-than-me guys who used to put their foot down on tight turns.)

Yes, the Linear is comfortable and has a good ride. Today I rode in a big empty church parking lot for 1/2 hour. I did slow turns and used the USS to make very small corrections and kept my foot up. The length of the Linear is 7 foot six inches, so I see the problem-- wide turns only and then they have to be made very carefully, with very careful steering corrections. It is not a mountain bike. It is fun to ride, but there is a learning curve.

Great! This will work. When you get good at it, then you'll be well able to tell how you like riding this and other recumbents--for comparison and such. Don't forget trikes. They're extremely fun, but best not to test without a full checkbook.

I remember my first ride on a bent, an out of production SWB and a P38, both having RANS type
ASS. I quickly discovered a finger tip hold on the steering bar resulted in much better control
than a tight fisted approach. Didn't buy either and ended up with LWB Rotator Pursuit. It doesn't
mind a tight fisted approach and in fact is one of the few recumbents you can actually pull back
on the bars going up hills to increase torque. It has a wide turning radius as well, taking at least
1.5 lanes of the road for a u turn. Below 2-3mph it is easy to turn too sharply and stutter the
front wheel with potential loss of control. My first ride was also a church parking lot and paying a
lot of attention to uphill starting and radius of turning that was practical. Still took 200-400mi before the side to side wobble diminished to perhaps 2x the regular bike wobble. Now I can ride down the white
line with only occasional deviations off of it. Remember to downshift before each stop, especially on
an uphill. Steve

What kind of trike? There are a whole bunch of opinions on these things. I have, in hand (under buns?), a Logo for testing that appears will be put up for sale by the owner. My trike is a TT, but the Logo has some really interesting characteristics that I would really like to have. Definitely the best seat I've sat on.

Yes, the Linear is comfortable and has a good ride. Today I rode in a big empty church parking lot for 1/2 hour. I did slow turns and used the USS to make very small corrections and kept my foot up. The length of the Linear is 7 foot six inches, so I see the problem-- wide turns only and then they have to be made very carefully, with very careful steering corrections. It is not a mountain bike. It is fun to ride, but there is a learning curve.

hi, have spent the last two months learning to ride my swb. crashed hard a couple of times at first, I'm the kind of person who needs to be humbled sometimes! I can't believe how much better it gets. I thought I would have this under control in a week, since I'm so cool, but at three hundred miles I'm still finding plenty of things to practice, right now I'm working on talking to and looking at someone along side of me without weaving! hang in there, I have already put a couple of my other bikes up for sale! Dave

I remember my first ride on a bent, an out of production SWB and a P38, both having RANS type
ASS. I quickly discovered a finger tip hold on the steering bar resulted in much better control
than a tight fisted approach. Didn't buy either and ended up with LWB Rotator Pursuit. It doesn't
mind a tight fisted approach and in fact is one of the few recumbents you can actually pull back
on the bars going up hills to increase torque. It has a wide turning radius as well, taking at least
1.5 lanes of the road for a u turn. Below 2-3mph it is easy to turn too sharply and stutter the
front wheel with potential loss of control. My first ride was also a church parking lot and paying a
lot of attention to uphill starting and radius of turning that was practical. Still took 200-400mi before the side to side wobble diminished to perhaps 2x the regular bike wobble. Now I can ride down the white
line with only occasional deviations off of it. Remember to downshift before each stop, especially on
an uphill. Steve

Between you and Chip, I need to relearn how to ride. I bought a well used Linear from Budget Bike Centre from Madison, and had a fellow truck-driver pick it up for me and bring to Ontario, Canada..
...finally put it all together, and after knowing how to climb aboard an up-right bike, slinging my leg over felt foreign. Eventually I got my leg over, and I have a slopped driveway, and realized I had an issue with balance.
So, because this is my first experience with a recumbent, my for-thought question is, how or what devices could I use to help with my imbalance?
I thought this would be easier than I thought, but, I'm in a position, it was time to learn to bike smarter, and ride a bent, which is easier on joints and muscle groups..

Another zombie thread revival... Best bet is platform pedals, rubber soled shoes to start (road bike shoes have
slippery soles, ATB shoes are rubberized, mostly) so clipping in is not a concern and a few hours tooling around
a flat parking lot getting used to startup, need to gear down for stopping and a feel for turning and speed interactions.
As I said, it takes awhile, for me in 2001 about 100 miles, with another 200 before startup was intuitive and steering not so wobbly. Starting on a slope will be a challenge for some time.
Leg suck is a hazard, ie as the OP noted a tibia/femur fracture can occur if you drop your foot down onto the pavement while moving forward, it might be over-ridden by the bike seat. Rare event, not much described in 20teens
but occasionally noted in the late '90s early '00s. Once you get the hang you can transition to clipin pedals. It does
take >3mph better >4mph to maintain steerage way so you will be zig-zagging a lot until you get the hang of startup.

Above seat steering on a bent is sensitive to tight grip on the bar, bike will tend to be more squirrely with a tight grip.
Below seat steering I have no experience with.

I was going to respond to john ben that it was probably his fibula that was broken and not his fibia, since there is no such bone and a tibia would be a much bigger problem and likely require more than a soft brace - then I realized this is a Zombie Thread and that john ben has not been here since 2004................................................................................................ ........................

Between you and Chip, I need to relearn how to ride. I bought a well used Linear from Budget Bike Centre from Madison, and had a fellow truck-driver pick it up for me and bring to Ontario, Canada..
...finally put it all together, and after knowing how to climb aboard an up-right bike, slinging my leg over felt foreign. Eventually I got my leg over, and I have a slopped driveway, and realized I had an issue with balance.
So, because this is my first experience with a recumbent, my for-thought question is, how or what devices could I use to help with my imbalance?
I thought this would be easier than I thought, but, I'm in a position, it was time to learn to bike smarter, and ride a bent, which is easier on joints and muscle groups..

Start a New Thread, cornpopper. It's easy. Ask for help on learning to ride a recumbent bike.

I was going to respond to john ben that it was probably his fibula that was broken and not his fibia, since there is no such bone and a tibia would be a much bigger problem and likely require more than a soft brace - then I realized this is a Zombie Thread and that john ben has not been here since 2004................................................................................................ ........................